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Record donations gathered at annual Lily’s Night of Glitter and Gifts

Residents who came out to donate toys for Lily's Glitter and Gifts on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018 line up as they work to fill two large rental trucks with toys that will be donated to patients at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.
- photo by Jim Dean

Despite the rain and cold weather that Forsyth County experienced over the weekend, people from across the county and beyond came out on Saturday night to celebrate the sixth-annual Lily’s Night of Glitter and Gifts at Vickery Village in west Forsyth.

And according to Jennifer Anderson, mother of Lily Anderson and founder of the yearly event, this year might have been their best year yet, with thousands of donations made in memory of her 11-year-old daughter who passed away from cancer on Dec. 15, 2012.

Anderson said that at the end of the night, they had managed to collect 3,268 toys and 26 bikes for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta during the event, nearly tripling their total from last year.

“It was amazing … Just so incredible," she said.

After all was said and done, the Anderson family and their volunteers were left with two box trucks filled to the brim, destined for the children’s hospital where Lily spent so much of the last years of her life.

"We had the two trucks that went down to Children's Healthcare on Sunday and unloaded,” she said. “It took them about four hours to unload and sort, so it was just amazing."

Anderson said that while the core group of their regular donors and volunteers were in attendance, this year they had a whole new horde of people from all over the county and different parts of their lives coming to the event to donate, volunteer and participate.

This year, Anderson said that they even had a large batch of donations come from people outside of Forsyth County due to a donation drive that was organized by her mother near their home in Canton.

“She filled her living room with toys. People from her neighborhood showed up in droves," Anderson said. "My mom said next year she's going global, going to every neighborhood, and challenging neighborhoods to bring more toys."